The biggest problem I've always had with the Linux world is the enormous number of distributions using custom patches that unleash hell onto the end user and the upstream project being inundated with bug submissions caused by those stupid patches.

Could we please have distributions stick to vanilla builds that don't use insane optimisations? I'm not really asking for much - stick to the pure source provided by the upstream project and when it comes to compiling I'm quite happy with the distribution sticking with -Os instead of the alphabet soup of tweaks and optimisations afterwards.

We're at this situation because with each patch, with each optimisation the further apart the distributions become in terms of compatibility. A bug that might appear in one distribution doesn't appear in another, a problem with one distribution might not appear in another thus making upstream projects like Chrome, Firefox and so on pull their hair out dealing with distribution specific bugs.

I've always been tempted to, one day, just create such a distribution that doesn't attempt to be exciting but merely a stable platform that gives end users what they need but without all the patching and fanfare that sometimes occurs by distributions.